Guest Post: Why Wine Educators Should Study Emerging Regions in the U.S.

Today we have a guest post from Dr. Dwight Furrow, a Professor of Philosophy, wine educator, author (and more) who lives in San Diego. Dr. Furrow is here to sing the praises of the new, unusual, and lesser-known wine regions of the United States.

Portugal's Douro River, with Oporto in the background

Portugal’s Douro River, with Oporto in the background

Wine is fascinating for many reasons but the stories of how wine regions continually adapt to the vagaries of nature and the inertia of culture to improve quality are among the most compelling aspects of wine. The story of France’s recovery from the phylloxera epidemic, the birth of the Super Tuscans, Napa’s transformation into a quality wine region after prohibition and their surprise showing at the Judgment of Paris, the dangerous trek down the Douro River to bring Port to market before locks were built, the heroic struggle to make wine in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley—all great stories that inform our wine lore.

Most of us who study wine have focused on the famous, established regions and for good reason as that is where the quality is. It takes many years to find the right match of soil, varietal, climate and cultural knowledge to make quality wine and many of these regions have had centuries to experiment.

Yet, as I travel around the U.S. visiting lesser known wine regions there are fascinating stories developing that may provide insight into the production of quality wine. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley last summer after many successive days over 100 degrees, the talk inevitably turned toward what to do if their climate keeps warming. Of course, every wine region in the world is asking this question but Oregon has placed a big bet on spare, mineral-driven, cool climate Pinot Noir. Will they be happy with 14.5% alcoholic fruit bombs or will they be ripping out Pinot Noir and planting Syrah in 5 years?

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The American South is an unlikely climate for growing wine grapes. The high humidity means rot and Pierce’s disease will destroy vitis vinifera vines. Yet these challenges have led to the development of non-vinifera and hybrid varieties that can thrive in warm, humid environments. Will Blanc deBois and Lenoir produce wines to compete with Chardonnay and Cabernet? They have a long way to go but quality is rapidly improving helped along by careful site selection, better vineyard management, and pest and disease research at local universities. Some Virginia and Missouri wineries are committed to developing the indigenous Norton grape into something lovers of European wines will crave. I have tasted several that might pass for an off-beat Syrah of modest quality in a blind tasting. Careful oak-aging seems to be the key to controlling vegetal and nut aromas that can taste odd.

Texas wine regions have to deal with deep winter freezes, scorching summer heat, acidic soils in some parts of the state, humidity in the East and drought in the West. Can Cabernet Sauvignon find its place amidst that adversity? Perhaps. A Texas winemaker told me that current experimentation with clonal variations will establish Cabernet Sauvignon as the go-to grape in Texas.

Can you grow wine grapes in the desert? In Southern Arizona’s high desert where temperatures drop off a cliff at night, varietals such as Tempranillo, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Sangiovese, which thrive on long days of full sunlight and large diurnal temperature swings show great promise. Here, one of the challenges is to get vines to carry a smaller fruit load in order to restrict yields.

Vineyards in New York's Finger Lakes AVA

Vineyards in New York’s Finger Lakes AVA

And of course the Northern tier states from Idaho to New York are experimenting with ways of dealing with hard freezes and late frost. In short, there is rampant experimentation going on, each region a crucible of innovative research all driven by a dedication to producing the quality needed to compete in an increasingly competitive wine market. In the future, all this experimentation will lead to new flavor expressions.

Is the quality there yet? No, at least not consistently. There are pockets of excellence and oceans of mediocrity. All of these emerging regions face a shortage of grapes to keep up with the growth in wineries as well as public perceptions that quality wine grapes can be grown only in California. But given their energy and enthusiasm, and the skyrocketing advances in wine science, it’s reasonable to expect that some of these regions will prove capable of consistently producing wines of great character.

The traditional wine regions are justly famous for their fully developed wine traditions. But there is no reason to think that we’ve already discovered all the best wine regions or that traditional wine regions will remain so. At any rate, climate change is likely to scramble the wine map in unpredictable ways.

For wine educators interested in the nuts and bolts of viticulture there may be no better classroom than these emerging regions of the U.S.

DwightDwight Furrow is Professor of Philosophy at San Diego Mesa College specializing in the aesthetics of food and wine, and owner of the blog Edible Arts.

He is the author of American Foodie: Taste, Art and the Cultural Revolution and is Senior Wine Educator for The Sommelier Company, a company of wine professionals that provide a variety of services to the food and beverage community.

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Welcome to the World, Los Olivos District AVA!

One of the windmills of Solvang, California

One of the windmills of Solvang, California

Today, the TTB established the approximately 22,820-acre Los Olivos District viticultural area in Santa Barbara County, California. The new AVA, which becomes “official” on February 22, 2016, is wholly located within the Santa Ynez Valley AVA, and is positioned in the area between the Ballard Canyon AVA (to the west) and the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA (to the east). The towns of Solvang, Los Olivos, Ballard, and Santa Ynez are within the boundaries of the new AVA.

There are currently 47 commercial vineyards and a total of 1,120 acres of vines within the new AVA.  The area is mostly planted to Bordeaux and Rhône varieties, as well as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. There are 12 bonded wineries in the area, including  the Brander Vineyard,  Beckmen Vineyards, and Roblar Winery.

Fred Brander of Brander Vineyards spearheaded the effort to get the AVA approved, submitting a revised, 26-page petition in March of 2013. According to the petition, the “distinguishing features” of Los Olivos as compared to the surrounding areas include its topography, soils, and climate:

  • Topography: The Los Olivos AVA is mostly flat terrain, with a gentle sloping southward towards the Santa Ynez River. The surrounding area has higher elevations and steeper hills.
  • Climate: The flatter topography of Los Olivos allows the area to have higher amounts of sunshine (due to less fog) and rain (due to the lack of the rain shadow effect that the surrounding areas experience). The region, being 30 miles inland from the ocean, is quite warm duriless influenced by the morning fogs and cooling influence of the coast, allowing Los Olivos to become warm during the day and cool at night.
  • Firestone Vineyards in the new Los Olivos District AVA

    Vineyards in the new Los Olivos District AVA

    Soils: The majority of the soils in the Los Olivos AVA are well-drained alluvial soils, mostly fine sandy loam and clay. The soils of the surrounding areas are less fertile, drain faster, and are of a different soil class.

The petition contains a good deal of information in the “name evidence” section, including a connection with the historic Rancho Los Olivos. Additional name evidence cited includes the historic Hotel Los Olivos (now known as Mattei’s Tavern) , the Los Olivos Grand Hotel (Fess Parker’s Wine Country Inn), the Los Olivos Café and, of course, the connection with the 2004 Academy Award winning movie Sideways.

Click here to access the new AVA’s Docket on the TTB Website.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE, CSE, MBA…your blog administrator

Tasting Saké from a … Champagne Perspective

Today we have a guest post from Mark Rashap, CWE. Mark has some insights about tasting saké in the context of the language of Champagne, and shares some of his adventures from his latest trip to Japan.

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Saké has always been sort of an enigma for me.  I’ve liked it and attended many classes and conference seminars on it; however, there’s something utterly confusing about the dizzying Japanese characters and multitude of production techniques.  It has always seemed like I’ve lacked the vocabulary for describing the subtle and elusive flavors, as well as not being able to correlate those flavors to a particular place or terroir.

Here’s where the enigma deepens: is this not essentially our goal as wine tasters? We try to see how the terroir speaks to us out of the glass, discern whether it is typical or atypical of that region, attempt to understand why by digging into the growing and production techniques, and the world goes on.

Saké, however, abides by different rules and should be thought of more in terms of “house style” instead of terroir, not unlike the large negociant houses in Champagne.  In fact, the more I thought of saké in terms of Champagne, the more insight I gained in understanding this ethereal beverage. With this understanding, I was able to develop a vocabulary around which to describe sakes previously elusive aromas and flavors.

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This is not to say that a sense of place is not important in sake. Granted, the rice, albeit from specified varieties grown for saké, does not have to come from any region in particular and is often shipped all around the country.  However, certain saké breweries (Kura) have congregated around areas known for pure and reliable water supplies, such as the Fushimi area in south Kyoto and the mountainous area of Niigata.  Additionally, there is some regional component to the Saké brewer (Toji) guilds.  Nevertheless, there are no AOC–type rules to preserve regionality or history, and we can confidently say that the mark of the Toji is the most defining factor in the quality and subtlety of the final product.  This is not unlike the Negociant houses of Champagne priding their flavor and style around the blending skill of Chef de Cave or their unique house yeast strain.

Real Japanese Saké, or Nihonshu (technically “saké” is just the Japanese work for alcohol in general), has an identity crisis in the US.  The process is most similar to brewing beer; however, the lack of carbonation, alcohol content, potential complexity of flavors, and ability to pair with various food align more with wine.  However, when we start seeing descriptions such as nuts, red fruit, flowers, and yeastiness in describing a clear and pristine liquid, it is all to reminiscent of Champagne.  I’m particularly talking about Junmai, which does not have alcohol added and consists of only rice, water, yeast, and kōji (the mold that converts the starch in rice to fermentable sugar), and Ginjōshu, meaning the rice was polished, removing 40-65% of the outer layer of rice (this is where the impurities are found).

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John Gaunter, one of the best resources on Saké in the English language, writes in his Saké Handbook, “A vast number of words describe the kaori, or fragrance of a saké.  These are often simple fruit, flower, or rice-like sensations, with esters, earthy tones, and herbal notes as well.”  Additionally, he frequently uses terms such as “austere” on one end of the spectrum and “gentle and soft” on the other, Krug vs Perrier Jouët perhaps?

In relationship to acidity in sake (which is much lower than in the world of Champagne), Gaunter writes, “a higher acidity often makes a sweeter saké taste more dry, while a lower acidity can make a saké seem heavier on the palate.”  Sounds like the acidity/dosage balance that Champagne winemakers strive for come disgorgment time.  In the Saké Handbook, Gaunter gives over 50 recommended sakés with descriptions and for each and every one, you could replace the word saké for Champagne, and it would still make sense.

This link to Champagne really helped me in a recent visit to the Fushimi district of Kyoto, where I tasted almost all of the 17 breweries there.  I am constantly befuddled and enamored by the sakés (and Champagnes) that show the red fruit and plum aromas commonly found in the villages of Aÿ, Ambonnay, and the greater

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Montagne de Reims.  I found the Shoutoku brewery with their famous Junmai’s to pertain to this style.  Furthermore, I tasted many sakés that showed an austerity, earthiness, chalkiness, and white flowers that is haunting and quintessential of Les Mesnil Sur Oger and the greater Cotes de Blanc.  Kinshi Masamune pertaining to this camp.  Practically ever saké I tasted reminded me of something in the world of Champagne, either a village or producers or flavor I tasted once upon a time.

As wine professionals, we should strive to continuously improve our vocabulary in the way that makes sense for us.  Whether this means using Ann Noble’s Wine Aroma Wheel or Matt Kramer’s intangibles of insight, harmony, and surprise.  In my opinion, studying Champagne and learning to describe it, which should be an absolute pleasure for all of us, trains us to bridge these lexicons and identify the tangibles of yeast, nuts, floral and fruit components as well as speaking in metaphor, because there is an undeniable other-worldliness of Champagne.  To my knowledge, I have never read of the saké-Champagne link before and can consider it an original concept.  My only hope in writing about this is that it helps you engage in the world of saké with a certain familiarity and comfort, ultimately allowing you to further explore its complexity of flavors and aromas.  I’d love to hear if you agree!

MarkPost authored by Mark Rashap, CWE. Mark has, over the past ten years, been in the wine world in a number of capacities including studying wine management in Buenos Aires, being an assistant winemaker at Nota Bene Cellars in Washington State, founding his own wine brokerage, and working for Texas-based retail giant Spec’s as an educator for the staff and public.

In August of 2015, Mark joined the team of the Society of Wine Educators as Marketing Coordinator to foster wine education across the country.

Are you interested in being a guest blogger or a guest SWEbinar presenter for SWE?  Click here for more information!

 

Politics, Grapes, and Wine’s Carbon Footprint

Today we have a guest post from Mark Rashap, CWE. Mark tells us about the environmental impact of the wine industry, and what can be done to  minimize the carbon footprint of wine. 

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Last year’s Paris Climate Conference—COP21—can perhaps best be described as a bumpy ride at best. There were several political sticking points, including financing the reforms needed to combat climate change and holding developing countries to the same standards as developed countries. In the end, the media was left trying to make sense of whether any true progress occurred toward the goal to cap the global average temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius.

This type of global bickering might seem laughable to the small time grape grower, but many in the wine business—from small wineries to regional associations—are attempting to take substantial steps reduce their carbon footprint, and perhaps, by doing so, help the cause of global warming. At the very least, the COP21 got the world talking about and focusing on carbon emissions, so let’s do our part and look at what stages of the winemaking process cause green house gases (GHG) and what progressive wineries are doing to combat them.

Starting in the vineyard, we see that the pure act of growing grapes, as well as agriculture in general, has the ability to absorb carbon and GHGs.  In 2015, a case study based in several Tasmanian vineyards did an incredible job at targeting the GHGs produced by wine production and recommendations to limit them.  They estimated that on average growing grapes produces 1.5 tons of CO2e (carbon equivalents) per hectare per year which is only 1-2% of the emissions of the total wine production.  While this is obviously a small percentage of the total GHG production, there are definitely ways to reduce this.  The largest culprit by far is the fuel needed to power vineyard equipment such as tractors, sprayers, and plows, which account for 55-90% of total vineyard emissions. Any way to limit the passing of this equipment through the vineyard is the most effective first step and can include: applying fertilizers through the drip irrigation system, sowing low growth grasses in between the rows, allowing animals to graze on these grasses, updating equipment for fuel efficiency, etc.

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The next biggest culprit, producing up to 30% of vineyard GHG production, is the electricity needed mostly to power pumps for irrigation.  Therefore, vineyard managers must make sure that their pumps are efficient and not wasting water where it is not needed.  Additionally, the use of mulches and various organic matter applications that aid in soil moisture retention will reduce reliance on the irrigation pumps.  Organic and biodynamic viticulture also avoids the use of inorganic Nitrogen based fertilizer, which can breakdown in the soil and produce Nitrous Oxide, a GHG that is 298 times as harmful as Carbon Dioxide (expressed as 298 CO2e).

During the COP21 climate talks, there was one session focused on wine production with representatives from Fetzer, Concha y Toro, Moët Chandon, Smith Haute Lafitte, and Château Maris.  Fetzer pledged to be carbon neutral by 2016.  Their facility runs 100% on solar and renewable energy, by way of 75,000 square feet of solar panels on the roof.  They are aiming to be zero waste, based on their efforts in composting, super-efficient cleaning systems, and treating waste water.

Packaging and transportation is considered the main contributor to GHGs for the wine industry.  As far as packaging, the fabrication of the bottle is the biggest cause of emissions; however, reducing the weight and increasing the percentage of recycled material will limit the impact.  In Champagne, the CIVC has introduced a new lighter weight bottle that that almost all wineries have adopted.  This change – from 900 g to 835 g; a 7.2% decrease – over an entire region is a substantial reduction; plus, it is cheaper to make and ship but still able to withstand the pressure. As far as bottle closures go, cork has the lowest carbon footprint, about equal to 1 gram CO2 per bottle which edges out the synthetics and screw caps.

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A 2007 study published by the American Association of Wine Economists, pegged transportation of finished wine as the greatest GHG contributor and analyzed the carbon footprint for the various methods of shipping.  Measured in grams of CO2 per ton of cargo per kilometer traveled, the carbon footprint of the various modes of transport are as follows: 52 for container shipping, 67 for refrigerated container shipping, 200 for trains, 252 for trucks, and 570 for air freight.  In essence, there is a sincere environmental cost to 2 day air shipping your next wine club installment.  Additionally, many large retailers are buying in bulk from various regions and bottling the wine closer to the market.  While the motivation for many of these innovations and choice in shipping is financial cost, there is an environment factor associated.

Despite the tricky politics involved in environmental protection on the worldwide stage, we in the wine business will be glad to know that there is serious progress being made in the industry to identify and improve the carbon footprint and environmental impact of our favorite wines.  Shipping will always be a GHG contributor, because we love wine from all over the world and are willing to pay for it.  However, better knowledge, innovation, and a commitment to reporting and improving will raise the bar for the entire industry.  Santé to that!

MarkPost authored by Mark Rashap, CWE. Mark has, over the past ten years, been in the wine world in a number of capacities including studying wine management in Buenos Aires, being an assistant winemaker at Nota Bene Cellars in Washington State, founding his own wine brokerage, and working for Texas-based retail giant Spec’s as an educator for the staff and public.

In August of 2015, Mark joined the team of the Society of Wine Educators as Marketing Coordinator to foster wine education across the country.

Are you interested in being a guest blogger or a guest SWEbinar presenter for SWE?  Click here for more information!

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